Page 14 of Like First Love, Again

Mia:Okay, promise you’re not going to get mad.

Tori:There’s an excellent way to set someone up to get mad…

Mia:Promise!

Tori:No!

Mia:Jesus, you’re impossible.

Laughing, Tori shook her head even though she was alone in the car. Just texting with Mia shouldn’t be as exhilarating as skydiving.

When the next image popped up on Tori’s phone, her eyes widened. Splayed out on an unmade bed was the jacket she’d gotten her senior year. Light blue with white leather sleeves,Cruzwas embroidered in white on the chest. On the huge whiteLon the front were all of Tori’s varsity pins. Having lost all hope of finding the jacket after looking everywhere, she never expected to see it again.

Tori:MIA!!! You stole my freaking jacket!?!

Mia:STOLE is kind of a strong word… don’t you think?

A strange mix of delight and surprise made Tori laugh too loud for a person sitting alone in a parking lot.

Tori:You took something of mine and kept it…what else would you call that???

Mia:You mean I cherished something to remind me of my favorite person before we went off to college?? SUE ME

Tori:I might!

Mia:Okay, I just did a little Googling and the statute of limitations on theft is five years. So that ship has sailed. Also, you have to admit. It always looked pretty cute on me.

Another memory Tori hadn’t accessed in so long stomped on her heart as it sprang into her mind. Even in the summer, when it was hot as hell, Mia had worn Tori’s jacket to school. At home. On the weekends. Mia wore the damn thing way more than Tori ever did.

Mia:Are you busy tonight?

The sudden change in topic was disorienting.

Tori:Why?

Mia:Always with the inquisition. It’s a yes or no question.

Tori:It’s an it-depends-why-you’re-asking question.

After an eye-roll emoji, Mia waited a few minutes to text again. The delay was making Tori anxiously curious.

Mia:Daniela invited us to her house for a little get-together tonight. Wanna drive together?

Grinning, Tori didn’t know where to start with Mia’s assumption-laced text.

Tori:I’m very sure she didn’t invite US anywhere, because I haven’t seen her in a million years. And I’m not driving TOGETHER somewhere I’m not going.

Mia:You’re so high maintenance. She DID invite us because when she called me, I told her we’d gotten back in touch. She was v excited about that and then insisted I convince you to come. Happy?

Chewing on the inside of her cheek, Tori didn’t know what to name her emotions. She supposed happy would fit, though it was a little simplistic for the gunpowder catching fire in her chest.

Mia:Are we going out tonight, or what? Don’t make me call your mom. I bet she’s still got a landline and I know that number by heart.

Floating leagues above her own body, Tori bit the inside of her cheek. She didn’t doubt that Mia really would call her mom, and she was absolutely sure her mother would guilt trip her about declining the invitation.

Still, Tori couldn’t bring herself to accept. It had been so long since she’d seen people from high school. It was bound to be awkward. She didn’t need the small talk and meaningless conversation with people she had little in common with.

Tori:I’ll think about it.

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